Love, Loss, and Family
by GhostGirlMD
Summary: Charlie meets a young woman named Denise Devins. Single and the new guardian of her five siblings after her parents death, she needs all the help, and love, she can get.
1. Off To Hogwarts

Name: Love, Loss, and Family  
Disclaimer: NOT MINE!  
Summary: Charlie meets a young woman named Denise Devins. Single and the new guardian of her five siblings after her parents death, she needs all the help, and love, she can get.  
Notes: None (for now)  
Pairing: Charlie/Denise(o.c.)

Denise Devins looked again around Platform 93/4. This time she was not there for herself. She was there for her younger sister Nevay. Nevay was short and had brown hair and eyes. She still had her baby fat in her cheeks. She was also eleven and ready to get on the scarlet Hogwarts train and start her first term at the wizarding school. She looked up at Denise with excited eyes.

"Deni, when can I get on the train?" she asked.

"You can get on the train anytime you want to. Probably best to go now, to find a compartment to sit in," Denise said. "Wait, wait Nevay. Don't leave Shuckles." Denise looked down at the small taby cat asleep on Nevays trunk.

Nevay ran back, grabbed the cat, and then hurried to the train. She found a compartment rather easily and yelled to Denise to come see her. This wasn't an easy thing for Denise to do. Even though a man had been nice enough to put Nevays things on the train for her, Denise still had to wrangle her four other siblings.

A year earlier her parents, Blake and Sabrina Devins, had died at the Quidditch World Cup after the attack from the Death Eaters. Since then Denise, being the oldest daughter at the age of twenty two, had gotten custody of her five younger siblings. Nevay was eleven, then Harriette at the age of nine, Joplin was six, Rosetta was four, and Nathaniel was the youngest and only boy at the age of two.

Nevay was a very hyper child, yet very sweet and caring and protective toward her younger siblings. Harriette was quiet and often the forgotten one of the family because of her tendency to just sit in the corner of the room reading or drawing. She was tall for her age and rather skinny with bobbed blonde hair, big blue eyes, and rather large front teeth.

Joplin was a tom boy, preferring to spend her time climbing trees or playing in mud. She had long brown hair and brown eyes. She was short and skinny, perfect for her adventures in the small wooded area behind their house in Romania. Rosetta was small and chubby with baby fat. She was a girlie girl that was always playing princess and playing with her dolls. She had short blonde hair that curled at the ends and light blue eyes like their mother. Nathaniel was the only boy and often played the prince when Rosetta decided she didn't want to play alone. He preferred to be left alone with his toys. He had reddish blonde hair and brown eyes.

Then there was Denise, a so called 'surprise' by her parents, she had been born when her parent shad been 17 in their last year at Hogwarts. There had been 11 years between her and Nevay and consequently, as her parents kept having children, Denise became a kind of second parent. She couldn't complain, she loved her siblings, but something that always made her feel funny and semi-bad was the fact that, after her parents were killed, nothing had really changed. The kids just moved into her house. Denise was short and somewhere between slender and chubby, not the best body. She didn't have a lot of time to spend on herself so her long brown hair was usually up in a untidy bun and her brown eyes were often red from lack of sleep.

She worked in Romania but hadn't lived there long. She and her siblings had grown up in London but Denise had taken on a job for the Ministry of Magic which had recently relocated her to a small wizarding town in Romania. She worked at a Dragon Rehabilitation center, seeing as she worked in the Care for Magical Creatures office at the Ministry. She enjoyed her job, and the money they paid her.

Denise looked at Nevay hanging out the window.

"Nevi, I can't come over there right now. I love you so much. Send me an owl after sorting and the feast. And for goodness sake sit down! The train is starting to move!" she yelled.

Nevay waved good-bye and sat down and Denise watched her sister as she headed for her first term. She knew she would miss Nevay around the house, but she knew she would be safe under the care and watch of Albus Dumbledore. Denise took one last look, rallied the children, and made her way for the Muggle part of Kings Cross Station.

TBC...

A/N: Charlie will be in the next chapter. I wanted this to show you Denise and her story. :)


	2. The Accident

Denise's heart dropped as she saw a posting on her desk, along with all the other desks in the office. She tore it off and read in at least six more times.

Romanian Dragon Rescue has, as of September 2nd,

cancelled their day care program. We are sorry for the inconvenience.

Denise groaned. Her day couldn't possibly get worse. It was September 2nd. Today was the last day that Rosetta and Nate would have anywhere to go while she was working. Joplin and Harriette were currently enrolled in a Muggle elementary school a couple blocks from Denise's house. And Rosetta would be going to Kindergarten next year so all she really had to worry about for a while was Nate. He was only two and, being in a small Muggle town while she wasn't working, there was no day care center because usually it was a double parent household where the mom stayed home. Unfortunately Denise was both mom/dad and a sister on top of this year Denise had to worry about Rosetta and Nate being safe with someone she actually trusted.

Denise groaned and fell back into her chair. She closed her eyes and had started to relax when a very loud THUD echoed off the walls. Denise jumped up and looked at her window. A very distraught barn owl was banging itself against the window. Denise opened it, took the letter and reclosed the window. She sat down and noticed it was the letter from Nevay. She opened it quickly, anxious to see what house her sister had been sorted into.

Hi Deni,

I got sorted into Gryffindor! Just like you were. I'm so happy. And guess what. Last night at the feast I got to sit next to Harry Potter. _The_ Harry Potter. It was excellent. And he talked to me. Hee-hee. Sorry I didn't send the letter until this morning. I was so stuffed and sleepy I just fell into bed. Love you Deni!

Nevay

Denise smiled. She knew Nevay would get into Gryffindor. She was so much like Denise had been when she was younger there hadn't been a doubt in her mind. As for her infatuation with Harry Potter...she'd get over it. Denise folded up the letter and stuffed it in her hand bag. She started ruffling through papers and saw a letter that had been put into her things by mistake. It was addressed to Charlie Weasley. She hadn't really met Charlie, but she had heard from many people that he was an amazing handler. And she had heard from Carol in finances that he was a very good looking man, especially when he didn't wear his shirt.

Denise giggled and stood up. She went down to the handlers break room at the other end of the sanctuary. She hated walking out of her building. She always felt as if she was in the way. But the crisp morning air was nicer that the hot stuffy offices in the records rooms. She looked over at the Hungarian Horntail in the pen that she was walking past. And thats when it happened. The monster whipped its tail around and just missed her face. But the force from the wind threw her backwards at least thirty feet.

She heard a lot of people yelling and people running towards her. She felt someone touch her arm and tell everyone else to stop crowding her. She opened her eyes, accidently staring directly into the sun and closed them again.

"C'mon! If you got whipped like that wouldn't you want some breathing room? Shove off! Go do your jobs." the man said.

Denise groaned and opened her eyes again. This time she didn't see a blazing orangish ball of fire, well, kinda. The man that was leaning over her had amazing red hair that definitely could have given the color of the sun a run for its money. Denise attempted to sit up but found it not only difficult, but incredibly painful.

"Just lay down, everything will be ok. Balaur hit you pretty hard. Something might be broken."

Denise kept staring at the man. She took a breath to speak and it felt like someone sliced a knife through her chest.

"Who are you?" she managed to say.

"Charlie Weasley. I'm one of the handlers here. Balaur shouldn't have done that. Something must have spooked him."

"Charlie?" Denise winced as she talked. "I was supposed to bring this letter to you." she said.

Charlie took the letter out of her hands and looked at it. He turned it over in his hands a couple times.

"Well don't I feel responsible. If it wasn't for me you wouldn't be hurt. I told Danny to call for some med witches. They should be here in a minute or two." he said.

"Don't feel responsible. It isn't your fault. I walked to close to the pen." Denise said.

Charlie smiled at her. Before he could say anything two med witches apparated next to them and took Denise away.

Denise woke up hours later in a hospital room. A single vase of flowers were sitting on a night stand. She looked at the clock and started to worry. She should have picked Joplin and Harriette up three hours ago. She started panicing when there was a knock on her door. Charlie walked in. But he wasn't alone. He was holding a sleeping little boy, holding the hand of a little girl and being followed by two more girls. It took Denise a moment before realizing it was Nate that Charlie was holding, Rosetta he was holding hands with, and Jolpin and Harriette that were trailing behind him.

"But, but, how did you know about them? What happened? Oh my god put Nathaniel down!" Denise was panicing.

"Calm down Denise. Calm down. I went and asked Carol who you were. She told me your name and I went to your desk. I saw your schedual and decided to help you out. I didn't want you worrying." Charlie explained.

"Put Nathaniel down! Put him down!" Denise looked at Jolpin and Harriette. "Why did you go with him? Stranger danger!"

"But Deni, Aunt Carrie was with him." Joplin said softly, afraid of being in trouble.

"Yeah. I took Carol with me so they knew it was ok. Don't be mad at them." Charlie said.

Denise took a deep breath. She was over reacting.

"Why do I hurt so bad?"

"Shattered bones. Had to regrow a few. And you were bleeding pretty bad internally. Bed rest for six weeks." Charlie said as he sat down, Nate still asleep on his chest.

"I can't be. What about the kids?" Denise asked.

"I'll help you out."

TBC...


	3. Reasons

Denise still wasn't used to being confined to her bed. It had been a week and she was driving herself crazy. She couldn't move her left leg because it was still partially regrowing her shin bone, which hurt more than any pain she had ever experienced in her life, and she couldn't move her right arm because it was in a cast to immobilize it to help heal a severe break. She had broke six ribs and had a hair-line fracture on her pelvis. She wasn't sure if she would ever be able to forgive Balaur.

"Charlie!" she yelled.

She sat in silence for about two minutes before Charlie raced into the room.

"Whats wrong?" he asked.

Charlie still felt highly responsible for Denise's accident because the letter had been addressed to him. So he had partially moved himself into Denise's house, only leaving to get changes of clothes from his loft. He was amazing with the kids and they had all started calling him Uncle Charlie, except Nate who insisted upon calling him Chuck. At the current moment Charlie had Fruit Loops stuck in his hair, what looked like spit up on his shirt, and his normally blue eyes were intensely red because he hadn't been sleeping.

"Sorry, it must be a bad time." Denise said.

"No no. What's wrong? What do you need?" Charlie asked.

"Is there any meatloaf left over from last night?"

"Yeah. Want some?"

"If you don't mind." Denise smiled at him.

Charlie smiled back and walked out of the room. Denise looked at her ceiling and wondered how exactly Charlie was handling all the kids. And why exactly he was so willing to do all this. She knew he felt guilty, but she didn't know he felt _this _guilty.

Charlie walked down to the kitchen, which was one the first floor of the house. Halfway down the stairs he slipped on Nate's toy fire truck and fell down the rest of the flight.

"Uncle Charlie, are you ok?" Joplin asked.

Charlie groaned and looked at the worried seven year old.

"I'm fine." he lied.

Joplin smiled and ran out the back door to have another fun time in the trees. Charlie hobbled into the kitchen and pulled the meatloaf out of the refrigerator. He had forgotten to ask whether or not she had wanted it heated up.

"Denise!" he yelled.

"Just keep it cold!" she yelled back.

He silently thanked God, sliced part of the meatloaf onto a plate and started walking back upstairs.

"Chuck, Deni ok?" Nate asked from the floor where he was currently making a city out of blocks.

"Yeah, Deni's ok." Charlie assured.

"Can I see her?"

Charlie took a deep breath. Denise needed her rest but he knew she must miss her siblings.

"Yeah, c'mon. Just don't jump on the bed ok?"

"Ok."

Nate followed Charlie up the stairs, stumbling on a couple steps and walked into Denise's room.

"Deni ok?" Nate asked.

"Yes Nate. I'm ok. I missed you." Denise gave him a side hug with her good arm and attempted to hide the pain on her face that the movement had caused.

"Love you Deni." Nate said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"Love you too." Deni said.

Nate smiled and ran out of the room. Charlie smiled down at Denise.

"You said to keep it cold." he said.

"Yeah. Thanks. Charlie can I ask you a question?" Denise asked.

"Of course." Charlie sat down on the edge of the bed, careful not to bump Denise in any way.

Denise was quiet for a moment. She wasn't sure how to ask him that question. What if he was just doing this because he truly felt guilty? Because he wanted to help. Would it be an insult to ask? She was curious. He must have noticed the curiosity playing across her face.

"I'm worried about you Denise. Locked in a house with four kids, not being able to move. Not a lot of friends that can take time off to help. I only want to help. If I'm exceeding my boundries in any way, shape, or form tell me and I'll back off." Charlie said.

"No, no Charlie. You're helping me out a lot. I just wanted to know why you were doing all this. You don't have to. But you kinda just answered the question for me." Denise looked rather embarrassed.

Charlie smiled at her.

"I'm only here to help." Charlie assured.

"I know." Denise said. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome."

TBC...

A/N: Ok, not to be pushy but I would love it if someone reviewed. I have 2 favorites and 3 alerts and 0 reviews. I really want something. And I hate this chapter. I kinda just noticed that Charlie sounds creeperish. I'm gonna speed it up and next time it will be longer.


	4. Opening Up

The last weeks of Denise's confinement to her bed went rather smoothly. She hated the fact that was kids listened better to Charlie, someone who had been a complete stranger, than to her, someone they had known all their lives. On the last day of her bed rest Denise had had enough. She stood up on her healed leg and walked without difficulty out of her room and down the stairs. Joplin and Harriette were at school and she could hear Rosetta forcing Nate to be her knight in shining armour. She looked at Charlie, resting on the couch with a Quidditch book in his hands. She smiled and walked over, sitting right next to him.

"Denise? Why are you out of bed? There's still one day left on your bed rest." Charlie reminded.

"I know there is. But everyone knows that the last week is just for show. Besides, my bedroom is boring. No television, no windows I can see out of, no radio. No source of entertainment except books, and I've read all of those already. I wanted to come down here and see what was going on. Obviously, nothing." Denise said.

Charlie shut his book and re-positioned himself on the couch so he was facing her properly. It was then that an odd feeling rushed through him. An urge to touch her long, brown hair. To stare deeply into her eyes, which weren't at all red seeing as she had caught up on her sleep. To press his lips against hers. He pushed all those feelings aside. He barely knew her! True he was living in her house, halfway raising her siblings, and he had nursed her back to health. But he knew nothing of the reasons she was raising her sisters and brother instead of her parents. He knew nothing of her childhood, where she was raised. He knew nothing of the kids except their names and what little he had pieced together about their hobbies and interests. He truly knew more of the children than of their care giver.

"Charlie, whats wrong?" Denise asked, noticing the spaced-out look on his face.

"Just thinking. Why did you let me into your house?" he asked.

Denise looked at her hands. She truly didn't know why she had let him in. She barely knew him. Yet, as soon as she had seen him she had trusted him. Trusted him with everything she had, everything she was.

"Because I trust you. You're a good guy and I knew you wouldn't do anything to the kids or to me. And I was right to trust you. You're amazing with the kids, especially Nate. He hasn't had a guy around since dad died." Denise didn't make eye contact.

"How did he die?" Charlie blurted out. _Oh my God, be more insensitive. _he thought.

Denise looked at him, her eyes making contact with his. She had never told anyone the story. But for some reason she thought she should tell him.

"They were at the Quidditch World Cup last year. You see, they were both Muggle born. Incredibly talented at magic, some of this best during their years at school, but Muggle born nevertheless. After the match, the Death Eaters came. Surely you heard about that." Denise said.

"I was there, with my family." Charlie said softly.

"So you know how much torture and agony several families went through. My parents, there names were Blake and Sabrina, they were running and two Death Eaters saw them and knew that they were, in their words, _Mudbloods_," Denise shuddered at the word. "One lifted my father into the air, another lifted my mother. They put them under the Cruciatus curse for what had to seem liked hours. But they didn't use the Kedavra curse on them, no. They tortured them to death. They used the, the, the Incendio curse on my father and burned him until he died. They used the Reductor Curse on my mother, blew her up. They have two little memorials out back, a few ashes from what Aurors found of their bodies, not much was left to find though." Denise was in tears as she finished talking.

Charlie felt horrible. Her parents were dead, killed by two horrible curses. Anyone that died from those would have certainly wished to be killed using the Kedavra curse instead. Quick and painless. Denise was shaking with her tears. Charlie, without realizing what he was doing, moved closer to Denise and wrapped his arms around her.

"It's ok Denise. I promise its ok." Charlie said.

"I yelled at them." her voice was muffled but he could hear what she was saying. "The last thing I did was yell at them. I yelled at them for being selfish and going to the game and leaving me with the kids. The last thing I said was mean and rude and selfish and I hate myself so much for doing that."

"They knew you loved them Denise. Of course they knew. They loved you with all their hearts."

"Everything is too much Charlie. The kids, my job, the stress. I want to do a good job, I want to make them proud of me but I don't know how." Denise cried.

"They'll always be proud of you. You're excellent at your job and you held yourself together for your siblings when they really needed you. You're a wonderful person." Charlie assured.

Denise sat up and looked at him. His arms were still around her, she didn't attempt to move them. She felt safe and relaxed, as if nothing could hurt her.

"Would you liked to see the memorials?" Denise asked.

"I would if you would like to show me." Charlie said, not wanting to force her to show him them.

She stood up and took his hand. As she did what seemed like electricity ran through both their bodies. She smiled and pulled him to the back yard. This time he saw two small stone memorials in the flower bed by the small tool shed. He read each one.

Blake Bradley Devins  
37  
Beloved Father and Husband  
He will forever be in our hearts

Sabrina Tracy Sanders Devins  
37  
Beloved Mother and Wife  
She will forever be in out hearts

TBC...


	5. Back To Work

Thank you to iluvparker for inspiration for this chapter. And, um, don't hate me. I'm ending the war earlier than seventh year. I don't want Fred to die. Or Sirius. Sorry, but this is kind of tradition in my stories and its how I write and how I will always write.  
*LLF*

Denise was able to return to work the next week. She was told to take it easy and not to do any kind of stressful activity. Considering her job consisted of sitting at a desk all day and answering owl messages, the most stressful thing she would have to do is eat her lunch. But, she guessed, turkey sandwiches could be considered stressful if they're hard to chew. The hardest thing about going back to work was seeing the disappointment on Rosetta and Nate's faces when she left them with their neighbor, Mrs. Fairvax.

Mrs. Fairvax was an elderly woman who had just celebrated her ninety sixth birthday. She had very thin, very grey hair that was done up in a very tight perm. She had paper thin skin, an amazing amount of wrinkles, and looked as though her bones may break if a bird landed on her. But, Denise wasn't worried that she would go to pick her siblings up one day and Mrs. Fairvax would be dead. You see, Denise had the peace of mind knowing everything would be fine because Mrs. Fairvax was a witch. Average life span for witches and wizards was somewhere around one hundred and fifty. Denise only knew this because of her talk with Professor Dumbledore when she was at Hogwarts. He was only, at this moment in time 115 or 116, she wasn't exactly sure which.

But, Denise now sat at her desk, which was covered in Get Well Soon cards and a couple dying vases of flowers. She looked out the window, which was new, her boss had moved her desk closer to the door to avoid Denise having to walk as far before she could sit down. She had told her boss, David Wieldrum, that he didn't have to do that but he insisted upon it. Now she had a perfect view of Balaur, the Hungarian Horntail that had almost killed her. She never knew if she would ever fully forgive that dragon but she figured one day she would come to terms with what had happened and not fully hate the strong creature in front of her. She also loved this new position of her desk because it gave her an amazing view of the handlers when they went to deal with Balaur and his new mate, Norberta, a Norwegian Ridgeback that Charlie had dealt with since she was brought here. Denise didn't know the full story of Norberta, but, then again, no one except Charlie did. She also didn't understand why they were inter-breeding the dragons, but she didn't want to argue with David.

Denise smiled as she saw Charlie walking toward the enclosure. He was dressed so Muggle. But all the handlers did. Blue jeans and a khaki shirt. They also had dragon hide boots and gloves, something Denise thought ironic considering their career. She watched as Charlie slipped on his gloves and stuck his hands in the feed bucket. He threw a couple large chunks of meat into the air and Denise watched as Norberta beat Balaur to the food. He threw a couple more to Balaur and then filled up through up with more food for them. He looked behind him as he wiped the sweat off his face and smiled when he saw Denise watching him. She quickly turned her attention to unanswered letters and busied herself with writing answers. She was halfway through the stack when the door opened and someone joined her. It was the weekend, the time when most people weren't in the offices. Denise needed the money that working the weekends would offer her. She looked over and saw Charlie looking through the mail. Ever since the accident the owls had been directed to deliver all mail to the main offices and the handlers had to come over to find their letters. Charlie took three out the stack and looked over at Denise.

"How's your first day back?" he asked.

"Slow and boring. Looks like you were having more fun out there with Norberta and Balaur." Denise said.

"Eh, been doing this since I graduated from Hogwarts. It loses its fun after you've been burned a couple times."

"Burned?" Denise asked.

"Of course. Every handler here has been burned once or twice by a dragon. Norberta out there came to us with a rather bad temper, seeing as she was only a baby. Burned the hell out of my arm. Still got some scars there. Good thing about being a wizard, theres some stuff you can do to help make burns go away. Can never fully get rid of them though." Charlie rubbed his arm uncomfortably. "Wouldn't believe how many girlfriends have left me once they've seen them."

Denise looked at Charlie. How could any girl leave him just because of a couple scars? Probably the same way guys left her because of the kids. They found something wrong with it and they took off with reason.

"Scars aren't that bad. Got some brand new ones from the accident. Plus they add character to a person. They show that they've lived." she said.

Charlie smiled. He obviously hadn't heard that a lot. He turned to walk out when Denise stopped him.

"Want to go out to dinner tonight? My treat. A way to say thank you for everything you did." she said.

"Oh, um, sure. Dinner sounds great. I'll pick you up. 7 o'clock?" he asked.

"Perfect."

*LLF*

TBC...


	6. Dinner Wars

Once again, thank you to iluvparker for inspiration for this chapter. :) And its not just the dinner. In fact dinner is short.

*LLF*

"So, what your family like?" Denise asked.

They were sitting at a little Muggle restaurant, not too fancy. Well, technically it was a chinese buffet and the only dressing up Denise had done was putting on a skirt. Her friend, Carol, had taken the kids for the night so she and Charlie could go to dinner.

"Large. I'm the second of seven. Bill is the oldest, he's two years older than I am. He works for Gringotts, breaks curses in Egypt. Then there's Percy, three years younger than I am. We don't talk to him much, thinks he's too good for our family. Mum is doing everything in her power to get him back but dad won't even talk to him. He works for the Ministry, not exactly sure what part of it. Then the twins, Fred and George. They're in their last year at Hogwarts. Biggest pranksters you'll ever meet. I'm shocked that they weren't expelled their first year. Then Ron, he's in fifth year. He's best friends with Harry Potter. And Ginny is the youngest, and only girl. She's in fourth year.

"My mum stays at home, makes sure everything stays running and that everyone is out of trouble. Dad works for the Ministry, Misuse of Muggle Artifacts. Just him and an old corpse of a man called Perkins. We live in a rather large house, completely held together by magic. We call it The Burrow. We don't have much money but its enough to get by." Charlie said.

Denise was listening to every word he said. She was so interested in everything he said, in knowing about his family. They sounded like a lovely group of people.

"They sound lovely." Denise said.

"They are. And nice as can be, if you exclude Percy. How he ended up in our family I'll never know." Charlie laughed.

The Muggles at the table next to them shrieked as a large grey mass fell into the bushes.

"Oh no." Charlie said as he quickly got up and ran out the door. Denise wasn't sure what was going on. She put some money on the table and ran outside. She found Charlie sitting on the curb with what looked like a dead owl on his lap.

"Um..." she didn't know what to say.

"His name is Errol. Old as dirt. Its the family owl. Mum wrote me a letter." Charlie looked at her. "Don't worry, he's alive. This guy doesn't seem to ever want to die. Gotten close a couple times."

Denise sat down next to Charlie and took the bird into her arms so he could read his letter.

"Damn." Charlie said.

"Whats wrong?" Denise asked.

"Twins quit school. Hold on a moment." Charlie read a while longer. He looked at though someone had wripped his heart out. "Denise, Denise, I need to go to London. Ron and his friends, they're at the Ministry. Denise everyone is trying...You-Know-Who...Denise I need to go."

"Charlie if you're going I am too." Denise declared.

"Can you apparate?"

"Yeah."

"Then come on." he said.  
*LLF*  
Denise and Charlie landed in front of the Ministry of Magic. It was deserted and dark. Charlie started running towards the entrance just as a loud pop echoed in the silence.

"Charlie!" a plump little witch yelled.

"Where are they?" Charlie asked.

"Department of Mysteries. The rest of the Order is there already." she explained.

"Whats the Order?" Denise asked.

The little witch looked at her.

"Who's this?" she asked.

"Her name is Denise. She was with me when I got the letter." Charlie said.

"You brought a date?" the witch yelled.

"Calm down mum! There's more important things right now than yelling at me!" Charlie said.

Denise never through that her first meeting with Charlie's mother would be like this. Mrs. Weasley looked back and sighed.

"Well, come along then." she said.

Denise followed Charlie and his mum into the building and up to the Department of Mysteries. She followed them into a dark room with a stone pilar in the middle. There were people everywhere. Death Eaters swarmed around the bugs, shooting curses at anyone they could see. Denise, instinctively, grabbed her wand out of her purse, threw down the purse and put her guard up. There were students here, who couldn't have been more than fifteen years old. There were older witches and wizards attempting to guard them and block the powerful and deadly curses the Death Eaters were casting.

Charlie ran off to the left, his mother to the right. Denise ended up dueling with a rather mad looking woman who kept shooting the Kedavra curse at her. She got hit from the side with a Sectumsempra curse. She felt as though a sword had been slashed through her body. She felt blood start pouring out of her side and she fell down in a deep realm of darkness  
*LLF*  
It wasn't until much later that Denise woke up. She was in a living room, on a couch, looking at the ceiling. She felt her side, it was as if the curse had never happened. She shot upright. The kids. There was light streaming through the windows. Carol had to be worrying. Wondering where she was.

"Denise, lay back down. I sent a letter to Carol. Everything is taken care of." Charlie said.

He sat down next to her. "Welcome to the Burrow." he said.  
*LLF*  
TBC...


	7. Realization

A/N: The war is over. No one says it until later this chapter so I just wanted to clarify.  
*LLF*  
Molly Weasley had always taken great pride in the fact that she was a nice woman, a thoughtful woman. She never thought bad of anyone until knowing what they were like, she never talked ill of anyone behind their backs. That is, until she met Denise. True, the way she had met Denise hadn't been the best but Molly couldn't help not liking the girl. She didn't know why. She knew nothing of her, except that she was dating Charlie and something she had overheard about children. The fact that she had heard _anything_ being spoken about children was the reason that she pulled Charlie into the kitchen to talk with her after Denise had woken up.

"Sit down." Molly said.

Charlie sat down, wondering what his mother had pulled him into the kitchen to talk about. Molly took a seat across from him and folded her hands on the table.

"Charlie. You know I have always been as supportive as I possibly can towards your choices. But, I overheard you and Denise talking earlier. Something about children." Molly stopped there, wanting to Charlie to pick up the conversation.

"Mum, she doesn't have chi..." Molly cut him off.

"You know that I can't be judgemental about a young lady, such as Denise, already having children. By the time I was her age I had you and Bill already! But, Charlie, I'm not sure if you're ready for the responsibility that dating a woman with children will bring you. You'll assume the father role. It'll be quite difficult."

"Mum, we're not da..." Molly cut him off again.

"I'm not trying to change your mind. I will understand completely if you stay with Denise. But children take a lot of maturity to deal with. You're only twenty two years old Charlie. And off chasing dragons and risking your life. It wouldn't be wise to take that on and the responsibility of fatherhood."

"Mum! Listen to me this time. Denise and I aren't dating. And she doesn't have children. Last year, her parents died at the Quidditch Cup when the Death Eaters attacked. Custody landed on her to take care of her five younger siblings. She works at the dragon rescue center just like I do. The Ministry sent her there. Mum, I'm not becoming a dad. And I'm not dating Denise." Charlie finished and looked at his mothers reaction. She didn't look happy.

"Charlie Weasley. Dating a woman with _five_ children. _Five!_ I don't care if they are her siblings Charlie, that is a lot to take on. And I'm terribly sorry that her parents died, but her having to look after her siblings shouldn't be a responsibility that she puts on you as well. Sure, you aren't dating now. She obviously likes you Charlie! Following you to the Ministry to help with the war. That's not something that a girl would do just because she wanted to. And it was a stupid and immature thing for her to do. As you said, she has five children under her care. What if we hadn't known how to reverse that curse that was put on her? What if she had died right there in the Veil Room? What would have happened to them? She did a stupid thing. She's to immature to be caring for those children. She obviously doesn't have her priorities straight." Molly didn't wait for Charlie to respond. She stood up and walked out of the kitchen and, from the sound of it, went upstairs to her room.  
*LLF*  
Denise was ready to leave the Burrow by lunchtime. She wanted to get back to the kids, to assure them that she was fine and that she wouldn't be leaving them again. She needed to hug them and take them home. That was the reason that she went and found Charlie.

"Charlie," She said when she found him upstairs in his old room. "I think its time I left."

"You can't leave Denise. After the war ended, after He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had fallen, they vowed to take out revenge on anyone in that room. Until we're sure that they were bluffing, everyone that landed in the Burrow is staying here." Charlie explained.

"But, Charlie I need to get back to the kids. I need to see them."

"Carol is bringing them here. They'll be here before dinner."

Denise smiled. She had known since the minute she had met him that he was a very thoughtful man. But bringing her siblings to her, so she knew that they would be safe, that was the nicest thing that had ever been done for her. She couldn't help herself as she ran forward to him and wrapped her arms around him. The hug seemed like it had lasted for minutes, even though it had only been seconds. It was best that either Charlie or Denise had felt in a long time. Denise broke the hug and took a step back.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me." she said.

"Don't worry about it." Charlie said.

Denise turned to leave when Charlie grabbed her wrist and held her back. She turned to look at him and the moment she did she felt his lips press against her own. She turned the rest of her body towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. It was the best that either of them had ever felt. It was like electricity was running through them. Like fire works were dancing across their lips. It was perfect. Charlie broke it and looked at Denise. Words didn't need to be spoken. Denise smiled and walked out of the room, anxious for the reunion with her siblings. As she walked out one thing became clear to Charlie. He was in love.  
*LLF*  
TBC...

A/N: Short chapter. I know.


	8. Confrontation

Molly couldn't have been more surprised than she was when she opened the front door to her house and saw a young blonde standing on her doorstep with four young children.

"Hello. My name is Carol. Surely Charlie told you I would be coming to drop off the kids with Denise. I'd keep them but I have to work."

Molly was speechless. She looked at the children. They looked like nice enough kids. All were dressed nicely, even the little girl with brown hair who looked as though she climbed a lot of tress, judging by the scratches on her hands. Her jeans weren't ripped and her shirt wasn't stained. Even the baby boy was dressed nicely.

"Well, Denise is here right. Oh i'm dreadfully sorry if I have the wrong house." Carol said.

"No, no. Denise is here. I'll take them in. Thank you for dropping them off." Molly made a silent vow to kill her son for not telling her these children were coming.

The children followed her into the house, looking around at the odd pictures that moved and the clock that had words instead of numbers.

"Charlie!" Molly yelled.

Charlie ran down the stairs. He smiled when he saw the kids but the smile died when he saw the anger on his mothers face. He looked at her and then to the kids again.

"Come on guys. Denise is upstairs taking a nap. Last night was a busy night for us and she didn't get much sleep. But she'll be very happy to see you." Charlie said.

The kids walked to him and followed him up the stairs.

"Come back down once they're with Denise. I'd like to speak with you." Molly called.

Charlie sighed when he heard this.

"Is that your momma?" Rosetta asked him.

"Yeah, that's my momma. She's nice though." Charlie said with a smile, trying to assure the kids that they hadn't been dropped off in a house with a horrible woman.

Charlie let the kids into his room and allowed them to wake Denise themselves as he walked sloly down the stairs, not at all happy to be having another conversation with his mother. He loved his mother but she was a very opinionated woman. And she seemed to have a lot of opinions about Denise and the children. He finally made it to the kitchen and took a deep breath before walking into the room.

"You wanted to talk?" he asked.

"You brought those children into my house without telling me? How dare you! This isn't your house anymore Charlie. You can't just bring people over whenever you feel like it!"

"Mum, I couldn't do that when I did live here."

"Exactly. So what makes you think you have the right to do it now?"

"Maybe the fact that Denise helped out with the defeat of _Voldemort_. You yourself said that it wouldn't be safe to send her home. That they would target her. Well, if they're targetting her then why wouldn't then target the kids. They're not going to stop because they're little. They're not going to have second thoughts because they catch Harriette with a book. Because Joplin is happily playing outside. Because Rosetta and Nathaniel are playing prince and princess upstairs. No, they won't stop. They'll kill them all just like they tried to kill Denise. Just like they did to their parents. They aren't going to stop and think. They're just going to fire.

"So you know what Mum, don't fucking worry about us staying here. Don't worry about having to see those children. About having to see Denise. Don't worry about it because tomorrow I'll floo them to Grimmauld Place and we'll stay with Sirius because apparently its way to much to ask of you that you have a little bit of respect for the woman that's upstairs. The woman that came to help even though she didn't have to. Yeah, she doesn't deserve any type of respect and, apparently, neither does her family." Charlie stormed out of the kitchen before his mother could respond to what he had just said.  
*LLF*  
Denise saw the look of utter rage on Charlie's face when he walked into the room. She saw him grab a couple bags and throw some of his clothes that he had went and gotten while Denise had been asleep inside of them. She saw him grab the two bags on the floor that belonged to her and the children. She didn't saw a word as he went down the stairs.

"Deni, why did Uncle Charlie take our stuff?" Joplin asked.

"He must have found somewhere we should go." Denise said.

Charlie stormed back into the room and tried to make it look at if he wasn't upset.

"I found a new place for us to stay. Grimmauld place. Before we go you must know that Sirius Black, you met him at the Ministry, he lives there. He's perfectly innocent. Nothing will happen to you or the kids." Charlie said.

"Why aren't we staying here?" Denise asked.

"I'll explain later." Charlie looked at the kids and Denise understood.  
*LLF*  
TBC...


	9. Grimmauld Place

**A/N: This story, the Weasley family is in no way related to the Black family. That is how I put Charlie and Tonks together.**  
*LLF*  
That night went by smoothly. The kids simply adored Sirius. They thought it was the funniest thing when he would transform into a dog and run around playing with them. They were all too young to know what Sirius had been convicted of, even though he had never commited those crimes. Denise had a hard time warming up to the idea of living in a house with Sirius but, after talking to him, she realized he a nice man with respectable values and a good outlook on life. And once she had seen him rolling around on the floor with the kids, playing with them in dog form and in human form, there as no doubt in her mind that he a very nice, trusting man.

Denise had warmed up right away to Remus Lupin. She knew, from what Charlie had explained, that he was a werewolf. Denise didn't care. In her eyes, people who were werewolves were the exact same as people who weren't. The only difference Remus and any other witch and wizard was the fact that, once a month, he transformed into what some may call a monster. But Denise couldn't see it that way. Remus didn't go and terrorize people. He simply curled up in the corner of his room and slept.

Charlie couldn't've been happier that everyone at Grimmauld Place accepted Denise being there. There weren't as many order members and Sirius might have thought. Only three to be exact. Sirius, Remus, and Nymphadora Tonks. Charlie was currently sitting at the kitchen table, having just enjoyed a meal of roasted chicken, and was talking happily with Tonks. He and Tonks had history. A very splotchy history that was hard for other people to understand. In their sixth year they had dated, broken up in their seventh year and then been back together six months after graduation. They were always close to each other. Now, in the current times, they were in no way romantically involved. Tonks was crushing over Lupin and Charlie, although he wasn't sure, thought he must be in some way involved with Denise after their kiss. It was too much of a passionate kiss for it not to lead to something.

"She's a pretty girl." Tonks said, taking a swig from her butterbeer.

Charlie smiled. "Thanks. You and Remus, eh? You'd be cute together. Why won't he get on with it? Everyone can tell he fancies you."

"He thinks he's too old, too dangerous, too poor. He's afraid, I reckon. Been hurt too many times." Tonks said. "You and Denise. Are you two together?"

"I'm not sure."

Tonks looked at Charlie oddly. "Not sure? How can you not be sure?"

"Nymph, I was never sure if I was ever dating you." Charlie pointed out.

Tonks took another drink. "We were different. We never really went out. Well, we did. But never as serious as most couples. More on and off. Come on, Denise fancies you. You can tell by the way she looks at you. And her kids adore you..."

"They're her siblings. She's their guardian." Charlie corrected.

"Whatever, they like you. You two work together, you've lived in her house. And you know you were on a date when we called you to the Ministry."

Charlie sighed. Tonks was right. He hated when she was right.  
*LLF*  
"Nathaniel Irving Devins!" Denise shouted.

Nate looked at his sister. He was busy attempting to climb the large wardrobe in the corner of the bedroom. He got off and walked over to her.

"Sorry." he said softly.

"Get into bed." Denise said. The kids were driving her crazy. They always had a hard time sleeping at other peoples houses and now they were over tired. It would take her forever to get them all to sleep.

She had fixed a small cot next to the large bed. Nate had flat out refused to stay in the bed with the girls, insisting he was a big boy. So she made him his own bed, knowing that he would end up crawling into bed with the girls at some point in the night. Nate settled down, gripping onto his dinosaur toy as his eyes started drooping. The girls were still brushing their teeth and she had to still get them to bed as well. She heard the door open and turned. Charlie was watching her.

"I'll be down in a little while." she assured. A little while ended up being an hour and a half. After getting all the kids to bed she walked downstairs and spotted Charlie sitting alone on the couch. She took a seat next to him and smiled.

"Where is everyone?" she asked.

"Kitchen. Not sure why..." Charlie knew all too well why. He had asked them to so that he could talk to Denise alone. "I was wondering..." Denise cut him off. Not with words. She cut him off by pressing her lips against his. Charlie returned the kiss. Denise moved closer to him and Charlie wrapped his arms around Denise, pulling her even closer. They ended up laying on the couch, Denise on top of Charlie. They were interrupted by the sound of little feet on the stairs.

"Deni?" Rosetta asked in her small little voice.

Denise quickly sat up, followed by Charlie. Denise felt at her hair, which felt horribly knotted, she would have to hit Charlie later.

"What's wrong?" Denise asked.

"Joplin keeps kicking me. What were you and Uncle Charlie doing?" she asked.

"Um, we were..." Denise bit at her lip.

"It was a tickle fight." Charlie said quickly.

"Oh, ok. Is that why Deni's shirt is all messed up?"

Denise looked down at her shirt. The corner was caught in strap of her bra. She shot a death glare at Charlie before assuring Rosetta that that was the reason, fixing her clothes, and taking the four year old back up to bed.  
*LLF*  
TBC...


	10. Together

**A/N: News, news news! This will be the last chapter of this particular story. I will pick up with another story related to this one, "A New Chapter". That story will focus on Charlie and Denise's relationship (and perhaps a wedding?) I hope that the people who have been reading this story will also follow the other story.**

**A/N 2: BTW, in this chapter its around January. The battle at the Ministry happened earlier so that I could make my mind set work. Lol, sorry about the confusion.  
***LLF*  
Denise sat contently at the kitchen table, slowly nursing her now cold coffee. After Rosetta had interrupted her and Charlie the night before Denise hadn't gone back downstairs. The enormity of what she and Charlie had done sunk in and she went to bed. She felt bad about leaving Charlie down there, waiting for her, but she didn't want to face him. They had been so close to having sex. Having sex before either of them had said they loved each other. She felt ashamed. Not at her actions, but at the fact that it had felt right.

She heard footsteps on the stairs. It was still too early for it to be the kids. She suspected Sirius or Remus. To her surprise, when she looked up, she saw Charlie. He was in jeans, which he had obviously thrown on to come downstairs. He had obviously decided a shirt wasn't needed. Denise didn't object. He smiled at her and went to fix himself a cup of the cold coffee on the counter. He heated it up with a spell and sat down across from Denise.

"Where did you disappear to last night?" he asked.

"Oh, I was tired. I just fell asleep." she said hesitantly.

Charlie nodded, sipping on his coffee. He looked up over the rim of the mug. He didn't believe her, he believed that it was because of how far things had gone the night before. Charlie didn't push the issue to far though.

"Charlie, I'm sorry. I got scared last night. I've never wanted anyone as bad as I wanted you last night. And, I guess, since we don't know each other that well I just sort of froze up and couldn't deal with it. I should have come back down and told you. I shouldn't've just left and kept you waiting on the couch. That was extremely selfish of me." Denise said.

"Denise, I understand. Things went a lot farther last night than I had planned on. Truthfully, when you went upstairs with Rosetta, I started thinking. We were about to have sex. We're not even dating. It would have ruined our friendship. I'm actually kind of pleased that you didn't come back down. It would've been so awkward."

Denise nodded, happy that Charlie understood. She sipped her coffee and then set down her mug.

"About the whole 'not dating' thing..." she hesitated for a moment. "Do you want to?"

"Want to date?" Charlie asked, wanting to clarify.

"Yeah. I mean, you are so sweet and smart and funny and you're great with the kids. They simply adore you and, well, I do too."

Charlie smiled. "I adore you too. Denise, I love you."

"I love you Charlie."  
*LLF*  
"We need to make things right with Mum." Charlie said later that afternoon.

Denise was putting on her travel robes and Charlie was waiting in his. They were rather old and shabby, we had gotten them from Bill. Even when they were grown they didn't stop handing down clothes. He watched Denise put on her new deep purple robes and felt slightly uncomfortable. Denise saw that.

"It was a gift, from my parents. My last birthday present from them."

"They're nice. I like the colour on you. When is your birthday?"

"February 27th."

"Next month." Charlie said absentmindedly.

"Yeah. So the kids are going to stay with Remus and Sirius while we go to see your Mum and Dad. They'll be ok, right?" Denise asked.

"Of course. Remus and Sirius are great with children." Charlie said reassuringly.

Denise smiled and followed Charlie downstairs. She didn't tell the kids that she was leaving, for fear that they would throw a tantrum. She simply stepped into the emerald green flames with Charlie and headed to the Burrow.

When they arrived, Denise was hesitant to step out of the chimney. She knew that Molly was fond of her and Charlie had explained to her that he had blown up at his Mum before they left. Denise wasn't feeling to confident about talking to Molly. Arthur would be fine, he liked her and she liked him. They talked about Muggles when they had been together for a brief time.

"Mum!" Charlied hollered.

Molly stuck her head out of the kitchen and stepped fully into the door frame and looked at the two of them.

"Hello Charlie. Hello Denise." she welcomed. She looked...happy. That shocked Denise. She thought that Molly would be, well, angry, when she saw that she was there. Instead, Molly walked over and wrapped Denise in a warm hug. Denise hadn't been hugged with such welcome since her mother had been alive. Denise hugged back, not wanting to let go.

"Hello, Mrs. Weasley." Denise greeted.

"Molly, dear. Call me Molly. Now, tell me," Molly broke the hug. "What brings you two back here."

Charlie looked dumbfounded. His Mum was happy, not angry. Well, she was probably angry at him, but not at Denise. After all, Denise had received a hug and Charlie hadn't, that wasn't a good sign.

"We wanted to come back and talk to you and Dad. And, well, I wanted to say I'm sorry." Charlie asked.

"As you should be. I don't ever want to be talked to like that again." Molly scolded.

"It won't happen again Mum. I promise."

"Good. Now come into the kitchen. Your father is in there." Molly led them to the kitchen. Arthur was sitting at the table reading The Daily Prophet.

"Hello Dad." Charlie greeted.

Arthur looked up. "Charlie, Denise! You're back. Denise, where are the children?"

"With Remus and Sirius." Denise answered.

"Ah, they're in good hands. Sirius used to baby-sit for the twins when he needed some money. Back when we had money to give." Arthur chuckled while Molly glared at him. It wasn't a secret that they were poor but Molly didn't like him talking about it. "Sorry." Arthur said.

Denise and Charlie sat down, as did Molly.

"Mum, Denise and I are dating." Charlie said.

"I guessed that." Molly said.

"We're moving in together." Denise said.

"Wonderful!" Arthur chimed.

"You two better be careful. It isn't easy moving in together and still liking each other in the end." Molly warned.

Denise and Charlie looked at each other. If they could have survived what had already happened then they were pretty sure they could handle this new chapter in their lives.  
*LLF*  
Fin

**A/N: I'll try and post the sequel soon. :)**


End file.
